As news circulates that Steam Machine pricing could land in the $700-$800 range, industry experts are questioning its market positioning and competitiveness. Now, Mike Ybarra, former Xbox and Windows division executive and ex-Blizzard Entertainment president, has joined the discussion, publicly calling on Valve to "open up SteamOS" to allow third-party manufacturers to build their own Steam Machine hardware, thereby lowering the overall market entry barrier.
On X (formerly Twitter), Ybarra directly tagged Valve, stating, "Please enable third parties to use SteamOS and release hardware with various specs and price points. The SteamOS ecosystem will expand rapidly, and your Steam Store revenue will continue to grow." This statement immediately became a focal point among the tech community and gamers.
His remarks stem from recent concerns over Steam Machine pricing. Earlier, foreign media outlets indicated that the Steam Machine's price could be higher than players anticipated, with "Linus Tech Tips" also revealing Valve's internal hints that "this product will not adopt a $500-tier console pricing model," leading external speculation that the Steam Machine's final price could exceed $750.
In comparison, the PlayStation 5 Disc Edition is priced at $549.99, the Digital Edition at $499.99, and the high-end PS5 Pro at $749.99.
This implies that if the Steam Machine is priced too high, it will directly compete with existing high-end home consoles, but without the advantage of console-exclusive titles. Ybarra believes this is precisely why third-party manufacturers should get involved: market competition would naturally create more pricing flexibility and allow for the release of specifications tailored to different user groups.
It's worth noting that, from a technical standpoint, third parties can already adopt SteamOS; the Lenovo Legion Go is a prime example. Valve has also told IGN that it has always been open to other hardware adopting SteamOS, with the real issue being whether manufacturers are willing to invest. However, Ybarra's call emphasizes "clarifying the official stance," aiming to provide hardware manufacturers with greater incentive to join the SteamOS ecosystem.
He further suggested that Microsoft could also achieve a breakthrough in the hardware sector by adopting SteamOS: "This is actually what Xbox should be doing, but they might be forced to push Windows and AI and enterprise-related features." He admitted that this possibility is low but still pointed out that "if Microsoft were willing to embrace SteamOS, they would have a huge market advantage."
With reports surfacing that the next-generation Xbox could play Steam versions of PlayStation games, the lines between home consoles and PCs are increasingly blurring. In this cross-platform competition, Ybarra's statement is not just advice but also an industry warning: if Steam Machine pricing isn't consumer-friendly and Valve doesn't expand the SteamOS ecosystem, a potentially expansive market share could be lost.
via： IGN